Refugees & Humanitarian

Australian refugee law is highly complex and constantly evolving. It is therefore important to obtain professional legal advice to ensure your application has the best possible chance of success.

At Estrin Saul Lawyers, we are highly experienced at representing refugee applicants - both in the Australian community and in immigration detention.

Whether you need assistance with lodging a Protection Visa application or appealing a negative decision at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (formerly RRT), we are able to provide you with clear, realistic legal advice on seeking protection in Australia.

Western Australia announces ‘regional’ areas for SHEV refugee program

Estrin Saul Lawyers welcomes the Western Australian State Government's announcement of designated ‘regional’ areas for the purposes of the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) program.

Western Australia joins New South Wales and Tasmania as the first states to designate postcodes eligible for SHEV purposes. The designated ‘regional’ areas of Western Australia cover a large part of the state and includes regional towns such as Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Broome, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Mandurah.

The full list of Western Australian postcodes considered ‘regional’ for SHEV purposes are:

6041 to 6044;
6083 to 6084;
6121 to 6126; and
6200 to 6799.

The SHEV is a five-year visa granted to certain asylum seekers found to be owed Australian’s protection. It is an alternative to a three-year Temporary Protection Visa (TPV), available to asylum seekers who arrived in Australia as illegal maritime arrivals (IMAs) or unauthorised air arrivals (UAAs).

SHEV holders may be eligible to apply for other types of substantive visas after having spent at least three and a half years (or 42 months in total) of their SHEV:

The types of substantive visas SHEV holder may be able to apply for includes a number of skilled visas, employer-sponsored visas, student visas, family and other visas.

If you would like further information about applying for a Protection Visa (including a TPV or a SHEV), please contact Reuben Saul at Estrin Saul Lawyers by email (reuben@estrinsaul.com.au) or by telephone on (08) 9485 0650.